Be imaginative. Be smart. But most of all be brave. Look at what is special and unique about your brand and create promotions that give your consumer access to it. This is the new value in travel. And it's uniquely yours.

The event picked up a tremendous amount of Twitter interaction and, says Middleton, "It took some of the intimidation out of going to the Park 75 Lounge to try wines. It created a comfort zone." The hotel plans to do a similar event around summer wines. Says Middleton, "We're trying to connect with people the best way they want to connect."

A recent study by eConsultancy shows that nearly 53% of consumers are purchasing their vacations online, and that "the Internet is involved in almost 85% of vacation purchases." Since we know when and where most travelers are making their purchases, the obvious question is, What exactly should we be doing to prepare our sites for these mass booking extravaganzas?

In the mad rush to make your travel brand a functional player in the mobile world, there's an ongoing debate as to which approach is best. Should you be building a native application with all its inherent speed and elegance?